The Gods and the Faiths
The Gods of Light Avandra Good The god of change, Avandra delights in freedom, trade, travel, adventure, and the frontier. Her temples are few in civilized lands, but her wayside shrines appear throughout the world. Halflings, merchants, and all types of adventurers are drawn to her worship, and many people raise a glass in her honor, viewing her as the god of luck. Her commandments are few: *Luck favors the bold. Take your fate into your own hands, and Avandra smiles upon you. *Strike back against those who would rob you of your freedom and urge others to fight for their own liberty. *Change is inevitable, but it takes the work of the faithful to ensure that change is for the better. Bahamut Lawful Good Called the Platinum Dragon, Bahamut is the god of justice, protection, nobility, and honor. Lawful good paladins often revere him, and metallic dragons worship him as the first of their kind. Monarchs are crowned in his name. He commands his followers thus: *Uphold the highest ideals of honor and justice. *Be constantly vigilant against evil and oppose it on all fronts. *Protect the weak, liberate the oppressed, and defend just order. Corellon Unaligned The god of spring, beauty, and the arts, Corellon is the patron of arcane magic and the fey. He seeded the world with arcane magic and planted the most ancient forests. Artists and musicians worship him, as do those who view their spellcasting as an art, and his shrines can be found throughout the Feywild. He despises Lolth and her priestesses for leading the drow astray. He urges his followers thus: *Cultivate beauty in all that you do, whether you’re casting a spell, composing a saga, strumming a lute, or practicing the arts of war. *Seek out lost magic items, forgotten rituals, and ancient works of art. Corellon might have inspired them in the world’s first days. *Thwart the followers of Lolth at every opportunity. Erathis Unaligned Erathis is the god of civilization. She is the muse of great invention, founder of cities, and author of laws. Rulers, judges, pioneers, and devoted citizens revere her, and her temples hold prominent places in most of the world’s major cities. Her laws are many, but their purpose is straightforward: *Work with others to achieve your goals. Community and order are always stronger than the disjointed efforts of lone individuals. *Tame the wilderness to make it fit for habitation, and defend the light of civilization against the encroaching darkness. *Seek out new ideas, new inventions, new lands to inhabit, new wilderness to conquer. Build machines, build cities, build empires. Ioun Unaligned Ioun is the god of knowledge, skill, and prophecy. Sages, seers, and tacticians revere her, as do all who live by their knowledge and mental power. Corellon is the patron of arcane magic, but Ioun is the patron of its study. Libraries and wizard academies are built in her name. Her commands are also teachings: *Seek the perfection of your mind by bringing reason, perception, and emotion into balance with one another. *Accumulate, preserve, and distribute knowledge in all forms. Pursue education, build libraries, and seek out lost and ancient lore. *Be watchful at all times for the followers of Vecna, who seek to control knowledge and keep secrets. Oppose their schemes, unmask their secrets, and blind them with the light of truth and reason. Kord Unaligned Kord is the storm god and the lord of battle. He revels in strength, battlefield prowess, and thunder. Fighters and athletes revere him. He is a mercurial god, unbridled and wild, who summons storms over land and sea; those who hope for better weather appease him with prayers and spirited toasts. He gives few commands: *Be strong, but do not use your strengthfor wanton destruction. *Be brave and scorn cowardice in any form. *Prove your might in battle to win glory and renown. Melora Unaligned Melora is the god of the wilderness and the sea. She is both the wild beast and the peaceful forest, the raging whirlpool and the quiet desert. Rangers, hunters, and elves revere her, and sailors make offerings to her before beginning their voyages. Her strictures are these: *Protect the wild places of the world from destruction and overuse. Oppose the rampant spread of cities and empires. *Hunt aberrant monsters and other abominations of nature. *Do not fear or condemn the savagery of nature. Live in harmony with the wild. Moradin Lawful Good Moradin is the god of creation and patron of artisans, especially miners and smiths. He carved the mountains from primordial earth and is the guardian and protector of the hearth and the family. Dwarves from all walks of life follow him. He demands these behaviors of his followers: *Meet adversity with stoicism and tenacity. *Demonstrate loyalty to your family, your clan, your leaders, and your people. *Strive to make a mark on the world, a lasting legacy. To make something that lasts is the highest good, whether you are a smith working at a forge or a ruler building a dynasty. Pelor Good God of the sun and summer, Pelor is the keeper of time. He supports those in need and opposes all that is evil. As the lord of agriculture and the bountiful harvest, he is the deity most commonly worshiped by ordinary humans, and his priests are well received wherever they go. Paladins and rangers are found among his worshipers. He directs his followers thus: *Alleviate suffering wherever you find it. *Bring Pelor’s light into places of darkness, showing kindness, mercy, and compassion. *Be watchful against evil. The Raven Queen Unaligned The name of the god of death is long forgotten, but she is called the Raven Queen. She is the spinner of fate and the patron of winter. She marks the end of each mortal life, and mourners call upon her during funeral rites, in the hope that she will guard the departed from the curse of undeath. She expects her followers to abide by these commandments: *Hold no pity for those who suffer and die, for death is the natural end of life. *Bring down the proud who try to cast off the chains of fate. As the instrument of the Raven Queen, you must punish hubris where you find it. *Watch for the cults of Orcus and stamp them out whenever they arise. The Demon Prince of the Undead seeks to claim the Raven Queen’s throne. Sehanine Unaligned God of the moon and autumn, Sehanine is the patron of trickery and illusions. She has close ties to Corellon and Melora and is a favorite deity among elves and halflings. She is also the god of love, who sends shadows to cloak lovers’ trysts. Scouts and thieves ask for her blessing on their work. Her teachings are simple: *Follow your goals and seek your own destiny. *Keep to the shadows, avoiding the blazing light of zealous good and the utter darkness of evil. *Seek new horizons and new experiences, and let nothing tie you down. The Gods of Darkness Asmodeus ' ''Lawful Evil The Lightbringer is the evil god of the Nine Hells. Once an Angel in service to a mighty God whose name has been lost, he slew his master to gain godhood, then was cast into the Nine Hells in retribution. He is patron of the powerful, god of tyranny and domination, and the commander of devils. Tieflings and those with ambition revere him. He wills his followers to do thus: *The weak serve and the strong rule: become strong and bend others to your will *If you are stronger than those you serve, it is your duty and your right to rise above them by whatever means necessary *Serve your part in the Blood War by slaying Demons and Angels at every opportunity '''Bane Lawful Evil Bane''' is the god of war and conquest. He won many battles in the Dawn War and the other gods fear his military prowess. Gruumsh is his chief rival. Militaristic nations of humans and goblins serve him and conquer in his name. His orders are these: *Conquer the weak and never show mercy *Every moment exists as part of a larger conflict: know this, and always emerge victorious *Match strength to weakness and you will have victory '''Gruumsh Chaotic Evil The god of destruction, Gruumsh is the lord of marauding barbarian hordes. Where Bane commands conquest, Gruumsh exhorts his followers to slaughter and pillage. Orcs are his most fervent followers. Gruumsh is rival to Bane, but reserves a special hatred for Corellon, who blinded him in one eye during the Dawn War. His commands are simple: *Might makes right *Take what you want and kill whoever stands in your way *Fight whenever possible. Whether you kill or are killed, you make Gruumsh smile Lolth Chaotic Evil Lolth is the goddess of shadow, lies, and spiders. Scheming and treachery are her commands, and her clerics are a constant force of disruption in Drow society. She betrayed Corellon and Sehanine during the Sundering and split the race of Elves forever into the races of the Elves, the Eladrin and the Drow. The Drow are her fanatical children and she whispers these commandments to them: *Become powerful at any cost *Trust only your own strength and viciousness and nothing else *Seek out the Eladrin and kill them at every opportunity Tiamat Evil The evil god of wealth, greed, and vengeance, Tiamat is the five-headed sister of Bahamut, formed from Io’s slain body. Despite her fervent attacks on the Primordials during the Dawn War, the Gods looked down on her and cast her from their favor, a grievance which she has never forgotten. She urges her followers to take vengeance for every slight, and she is the patron of chromatic dragons and dragonborn. She drives her followers to do thus: *Anger is a gift; nurture it and use it to become strong *Avenge yourself upon those who have wronged you and show them no mercy *Slay the lackeys of Bahamut and Metallic dragons whenever you can Vecna Evil Once mortal, Vecna''' is now the evil god of undead, necromancy, and secrets. He rules that which is not meant to be known and that which people wish to keep secret. In his mortality, he courted the Raven Queen and learned the secrets of death from her, and using them, became a god; but his knowledge was incomplete, and he was unable to wrest control over the dead from the Raven Queen. Now he rules the undead in the Shadowfel with his incomplete knowledge and looks to subvert the Raven Queen’s power. Vampires, Liches and evil wizards worship them, and he tells them these secrets: *Knowledge is power, hide it well *Learn the secrets of others and use their secrets to gain power over them *Subvert the Raven Queen and her followers, for Death should be Vecna's providence '''Zehir Evil Zehir is the evil god of darkness, poison, and assassins. Snakes are his favored creation, and the yuan-ti revere him above all other gods. He killed many primordials and wayward Gods during the Dawn War, but the Gods cast him out for his bloodlust. Now he plots his revenge from the shadows of the world, spreading poison and murder through ambitious rulers, Tieflings and Drow, his chief followers. He bids them thus: *Killing is the greatest art *Strike from the darkness and vanish *Punish the followers of the gods for their treachery